And The ADVENTURE Continues...: June 2015

Thursday, June 25, 2015

We could be without internet for next 7 days stay tuned.....

Going into the Redwoods and we may not have internet so stay tuned should be back up and running after the Fourth of July.

June 24, 2015 and June 25, 2015 Last 2 days at Half Moon Bay State Beach

Wednesday, June 24, 2015 Hanging around the camp

Seeing that yesterday was a long day we all decided that we would do a few things around the camp. Mike and Jeff went to empty tanks and get fresh water. Amy read her book and enjoyed the sunshine. Pat groomed Max. After all chores were done, Jeff and Pat took another hike down the beach which ended up being 7.5 miles. Both of them are a little sore but they are ready to take on another hike tomorrow.

a sandbar

Jeff on a bluff I am across on the other side

a shady retreat

Horses on beach below us

Thursday, June 25, 2015 Last day at Half Moon Bay

Mike and I took our last stroll down the beach this morning. I was a little sore this morning but was hoping to find some more treasures. We were just going for a short walk and being back to the motorhome by 8am. So we walked for about a mile and decided that we would take the coastal trail which is a path around the edge of the bluffs on the way back. Big MISTAKE. A bridge was out so we had to go around it which ended up being a 3 mile detour. We are really getting a workout these last few days. At 11am we met Jeff and Amy and took a hike up a cliff and this was a 1.5 mile hike.

After we got back to the campground it was finish up the laundry, clean the coach, empty the grey tank again as we filled it up doing showers and laundry and pack up loose things before we head out early tomorrow morning for the Redwoods.

1st plateau of our hike

2nd plateau

3rd and top plateau

Last Sunset at Half Moon Bay

June 24, 2015 Day in San Francisco

Wednesday, June 24- Day spent in San Francisco

We decided to spend the day in San Francisco. We began the day at Moraga Steps at 16^th Ave. There are 163 steps and the girls walked down the steps while the boys found a parking place. The steps are all tiled and they have a continuous theme from top to bottom. They are just beautiful. It was a neighborhood project which started in 2003 and completed in 2005. It was inspired by the San Teresa in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I thought that there may have been an explanation to the artwork but couldn’t find anything on it. We went by several churches throughout the city. We passed the University of San Francisco that had some great steps in front of it. Our next stop was the Wave Organ. The music is created by the movement of waves in and out of submerged pipes. It is best heard at high tide and a full moon. Unfortunately we were not able to be there at either one of these times but we wanted to see it anyhow. Next stop was a drive down the crookedest road. It was thrilling. We then went up to Coit Tower and had a great view of the city around us. By this time we were all starving so off to lunch we went. We went to Mo’s on Grant Avenue. It was a great 7 oz hamburger. We made a stop at Grace Cathedral. It had one thing inside that I have never seen in a church and that was an Interfaith Memorial Labyrinth. Mike and Jeff walked it. On to the cable cars. You know that we couldn’t visit San Francisco without riding them. We rode them North to South and East to West and visited Chinatown in the process. Our last stop was to pickup Indian food and then home in time to see the sunset. We were exhausted and retired early.

Moraga Steps

University of San Francisco

St Ignatius Church 1878

Wave Organ

Lighthouse near Wave Organ

ROLEX clock at Yacht Club

Crookedest Road

Coit Tower

St Peter & St Paul Church

Bay Bridge

Downtown San Francisco

Grace Cathedral

Labyrinth

Boys on Cable Cars

Girls on Cable Cars

Entrance to Chinatown

Street in Chinatown

A Beautiful Sunset to a wonderful day

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

June 22, 2015 Down day and a new lighthouse

Monday, June 22 Relaxing day around the campsite and a short trip to Pigeon Point Light Station

Mike and I decided that we would take a walk down the beach south as I had already walked the beach to the north. The north end of the beach was much more interesting from the start as I found sand dollars, some neat looking rocks (one that had a smiley face) and some sea glass. Now the south beach started out slow but ended with a bang. It started out with nothing on the beach but the seagulls and the cliffs to our left. After about 2 miles yes that is correct we started to see rocks in the water and then we started to collect sea glass. I have never found this much glass at one time. I came across a starfish that was still alive so Mike suggested that I throw him back into the ocean, just as I let it go I forgot to take a picture—rats!!! Sorry no photo guys. As we continued the rocks in the water were getting bigger and just as we turned the corner around the bluff we saw a beautiful hotel on the top of the bluff and some strange looking cement pillars like something from planet of the apes. We asked someone what it was and she told us that it was the Ritz Carlton and the pillars were from construction of the Hilton years before when the bluff gave way and all construction stopped. Now we had walked 3 miles one way so back we went picking up sea glass for the next hour. We came across a pretty large crab on his back so we turned him over and put him back into the surf and away he went but not before I took a picture of him. At the end of our 6 mile hike we had collected a small coffee cup of sea glass no bad for a couple of hours.

After lunch Mike and I went to see another lighthouse that was just about 20 miles south of us. Amy and Jeff just wanted to relax at home so off we went. The lighthouse was called Pigeon Point Light Station. I was kind of glad that you couldn’t go up it as my calves were telling me that they had enough of a workout today. The Fresnel lens from this lighthouse was actually the replacement lens from the Cape Hatteras Light House from the period of the Civil War. That made it even more interesting. On our way back we stopped and took photos of the Ritz Carlton that we saw from the beach. It was more impressive from the beach.

Where we found our sea glass

Strange looking pillars

Ritz Carlton on the bluff

Check out the rock artwork

Our sea glass find

Smiley face rock

Pigeon Point Light Station

Fresnel Lens

Front of Ritz Carlton

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

June 20, 2015 Half Moon Bay and June 21, 2015 Golden Gate Bridge crossing and a lighthouse

Saturday, June 20-Short trip to downtown Half Moon Bay

We started the morning with a late breakfast of sour dough French Toast made by Chef Jeff. It was really good and discussed that we wouldn’t go into San Francisco on the weekend as traffic is pretty horrendous. Mike and Amy went into town to pick up some medicine at the local pharmacy and Jeff and I walked about ½ mile to a local farmers produce stand. We bought some fresh peas and came home to shell them for dinner tonight. Jeff decided that he would work on his inverter that was giving him some issues so I took a 2 mile walk down the beach. Shortly after I got back Mike and Amy showed up after being gone for 2 hours. Traffic was really bad. After lunch we did decide to go into Half Moon Bay and see some wood carvings made out of redwood. This artist was very talented. We also stopped in to some outside water fountains and then we saw a shop that had carnivorous plants. Amy and I were very interested in seeing what this shop had to offer. It was a very laid back day. We had dinner and before we knew it the fog rolled in early no sunset . We agreed to a somewhat early start the next day to go across the Golden Gate Bridge and see a lighthouse.

Prehistoric Metal Dinosaur

Outside Water Fountain

Nice sculpting

Carved Mountain Lion

Carnivorous Plants and Fairy Houses

Gopher

Gopher's Home

Sunday, June 21- Trip across Golden Gate Bridge and Point Bonita Lighthouse

We began our day outing at 9am hoping to miss most of the San Francisco traffic going across the Golden Gate Bridge. We did catch some traffic but it wasn’t all that bad. We arrived about 45 minutes before the lighthouse opened so we pulled into a parking lot and decided to walk down the trail. We caught a nice glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco skyline. We took some nice pictures of it, of course and we headed to the lighthouse. We had a ½ mile steep descend to get to a door that would give us access to a tunnel and the lighthouse. As their sign states the tunnel leads to a world removed from present time. You are not able to see the lighthouse at all until you clear the tunnel and what a gem. We took pictures of the seals sunning on the beach and swimming in the cove, hats that were lost, birds, rocks and one that looked like a heart to me, sailboats and anything else that struck our fancy. As we came out of the tunnel we saw the lighthouse. It was small but it does what it was designed to do. We had to walk over a suspension bridge over the rocks to get to it and I felt the bridge sway in the wind. Amy spotted a natural bridge while crossing the bridge so of course I had to take a picture of that. Jeff spotted a small cave that as soon as a wave entered it there was a spray of water it must not of been very deep. It was neat to watch the wave go in and splash on the way out. The steep hill wasn’t too bad but it did take a small toll on our calves and thighs. Good workout. We decided to take a different way back to the campground. These adventures just keep getting better. Our road took us over the mountain along the coast and what views we had. We stopped at a place called Marin Headlands. What a view!!!! Well worth the stop as you will see from the pictures that were taken.

We stopped at Golden Gate Park and had lunch and enjoyed the afternoon. We watched kids play, saw a big dog, had some local artists displaying their wares, listened to some music and saw a monument dedicated to Francis Scott Key. All in all today was a fantastic day!!!!!